Local custodian publishes children's book series

WORCESTER, Mass. — An author from Worcester is giving a new meaning to the expression, "Don't judge a book by its cover."

For 17 years, cleaning the white boards has been part of Janice Frederick's job as a custodian at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Frederick is also an artist. Sometimes she'd leave unsigned drawing on a small board in a faculty mailroom. "The first picture was a kayak trip and they were lie, 'wow, what is this?'", Frederick said.

Management professor Bengisu Tulu was intrigued by the drawings, wondering who was responsible for them. When she found out it was Frederick, she gave her some art supplies - and an assignment to draw more.

Frederick created more illustrations, and soon the book 'The Lady Who Eats Roofing Nails' followed.

Tulu was impressed but pressed for more, telling Frederick "You need to turn it into a series. What's your next story? That is the professor in me. C'mon! Let's go further."

And that's what Frederick did. She wrote a series of books about her heroine, a lady who isn't necessarily as she must appear on the outside. She says the professor's push made it all possible. "I have confidence in my drawings and everything, but it soared," she said. "So, I just put it out there and I kept going. It was like eating peanut butter crackers or potato chips."

Professor Tulu added, "The most rewarding part of this was I saw that she had talent and I thought that she was not doing anything with it. She only needed this much encouragement, and I just gave her this encouragement, and that's it."

Frederick isn't done yet. She's got more ideas cooking and still loves her job at WPI, where students are looking at her differently. "They said, 'hey, you're the lady that put out that book series!' And I said 'yep.' And they said 'that's cool!'"

WPI students have also gotten involved with the marketing and website development.

Cox Media Group